Photo credit: Alpine F1 Team
While Alpine have certainly made a name for themselves off the track in the last few weeks, announcing the departure of Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, Sporting Director Alan Permane and CEO Laurent Rossi, they tried to put those headlines behind them once the two qualifying sessions and races came around.
While Pierre Gasly finished 3rd in the Sprint race and 11th in the Grand Prix, his teammate Esteban Ocon made up for a disappointing qualifying to finish 8th in the Grand Prix.
The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner worked his way past Gasly, Albon, Tsunoda and Stroll in the final stint to grab a good result before the summer break.
He finished exactly 1s behind Norris that left him wishing for one more lap.
“One more lap, one more lap. That’s what Lando could have said for many occasions when we raced together.
“I enjoy the last lap battles with him all the time, it always seems to happen together. But not this time, unfortunately.”
Ocon considered Sunday’s result “saving” the weekend and showing the true pace of the car. He was left to consider what might have been possible if the whole weekend was run in dry conditions.
“[I’m] glad we saved our weekend in a way. Friday, Saturday didn’t go to plan, we didn’t put everything together.
“But clearly that race, we could show the real pace of the car, and how it was working, and yeah, had some really good battles out there.”
“What if it was a dry weekend for the rest [of it]? Because I think we had clearly that pace in the race.”
Photo credit: Alpine F1 Team
While Ocon was happy with his result, he also thanked the team for improvements that always seem to bring more performance to the car. Alpine had brought a new floor to Spa.
“It’s very encouraging that each time we bring an update, the car seems to take a step forward. Clearly, I dedicate that one to Viry and Enstone, because it’s really encouraging what we bring to the track really makes a step forward.”
